Okinawa governor gives green light to US military base

FIGHT NOT OVER:：The head of an opposition group in Nago, where the base is to be built, said his group would file a lawsuit seeking to cancel approval

AP, TOKYO

Sat, Dec 28, 2013 - Page 1

The governor of Okinawa gave the go-ahead yesterday for land reclamation to begin for a new US military base, advancing the effort to consolidate the massive US troop presence on the southern Japanese island, but also making protests by residents likely.

Governor Hirokazu Nakaima approved the Japanese Defense Ministry’s application to reclaim land for the base on Okinawa’s coast to replace a US Marine Corps base in Futenma, a more congested part of Okinawa’s main island.

However, he later told a press conference that he would continue pressing to move the Futenma troops off Okinawa entirely, noting estimates that it would take nine-and-a-half years to build the base.

“My thinking remains it would be fastest to relocate outside [Okinawa] Prefecture to a place where there is already an airport,” Nakaima said.

He added that he approved the land reclamation because it met all environmental requirements.

Nakaima’s decision could still face court challenges and protests.

“What the governor has done is unforgivable,” said Yuichi Higa, the head of the assembly in Nago, where the new base is to be built. “Residents who are opposed will surely resort to the use of force, such as blocking roads, to stop this from happening.”

Hiroshi Ashitomi, head of an opposition group in Nago, said his group would file a lawsuit seeking to cancel the governor’s approval of the land reclamation project.

The decision was a politically difficult one and it came only after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Nakaima in Tokyo on Wednesday and offered him a package that included pledges of increased financial assistance for Okinawa.

While the base consolidation plan is designed to reduce the impact of the US military on Okinawa, opponents want the Futenma base moved off the island completely.

About half of the 50,000 US troops in Japan are based in Okinawa and many residents complain about base-related crime, noise and the risk of accidents.